re: librarySeraph

and i feel like this one moment is very much illustrative of his larger motifs as both a character and a narrator: he's focused on semantics and technicalities, his mode of manipulation is deflection and being "technically" correct. just like when rose accuses him of pedophilia, he deflects to a bunch of technical truths that nevertheless ignore the central point she was making: the truth that he likes manipulating young girls (something he pretty much admits to). it's correct to say that being immortal most morals to him are young, it's correct that he does not experience sexual attraction in the way humans do, but right afterwards he refers to himself as "a kindly uncle who would offer her candy to prove it", which just doubles down on the very clear implications. he states that he never lies - and that's technically true, because what he actually manipulates is not explicit truths but rather subtext.